


First Kiss

by friar



Series: Kiss Prompt List Challenge [1]
Category: Tales of Legendia
Genre: Childhood Trauma, F/F, Other characters mentioned - Freeform, Pre-Relationship, swimming lessons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29930445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/friar/pseuds/friar
Summary: Water brought life. The fish of the rivers fed the people onboard the Legacy. The rains that fell made the flowers grow. The rain that fell made the flowers grow…The rain fell so loud that she couldn’t hear herself crying.The rain fell so thick that she swears she almost drowned.The rain fell so hard the day her parents were ripped open.
Relationships: Shirley Fennes/Chloe Valens
Series: Kiss Prompt List Challenge [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2201199





	First Kiss

Chloe took a deep breath. Fresh mountain air filled her lungs. It was the kind of air found best in moss-covered crevasses, alive with clover and dandelion fluff, where hidden waterways carved rivers into the soil, liquid veins through the flesh of the earth. The brisk edge of the cold invigorated her. She shrugged off her jacket and dropped it onto the grass.

Shirley grazed her with a side-eyed glance, barely turning her head. She was perched on a fuzzy green log, her legs crossed prim and proper at her ankles. Her bathing suit was striped with seafoam brushstrokes, embroidered at the hems with a thick red lace. Hadn’t Musette bought it for her? The old lady had good taste. 

Chloe struggled to untie the knots on her hiking boots. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, her head bent down to the task. “It took longer than anticipated to prepare lunch.”

“Oh, what did you bring?” Shirley slipped from her seat and examined the lunch basket. Moisture was permeating through the wicker. Steam from the still-hot food puffed up as she opened the lid. As soon as a waft of scent hit her, she recoiled. “This is… flan?”

“It’s actually supposed to be cheddar soup. Harriet insisted on helping.” Chloe blushed, feeling the shame that should belong to Will’s little daughter. She’d tried to change the girl’s mind, but Will had motioned for her to just go with it. At least he was the one stuck back at Werites Beacon, scouring the oven where the pots had boiled over. Chloe finally freed herself of her boots and stood back up, brushing blades of grass from her pants. “There’s bread, though. I had prepared that yesterday.”

And she’d brought butter, and alfalfa honey, and apricot-strawberry jam. Shirley’s smile was as sweet as any of these. “We’ll make do. But first, let’s get in the water. You shouldn’t swim on a full stomach.”

The knot in Chloe’s chest tightened. She stripped off the rest of her outer clothes. The cold air that was refreshing to breathe now made her skin crawl with goosebumps. 

Shirley giggled. She reached over and poked at Chloe’s exposed belly. “This is so cute!”

“Norma picked it out.” Chloe could feel her face burning, from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. She looked down at her own swimsuit, red with white checkers and a little satin bow where the cut dipped down at her chest. She smoothed the material. “I wanted a one piece, but she said this one was… um, anyways, it doesn’t matter. I’ve already paid for it.”

“It looks lovely on you.” If anyone else had said such scandalous slander, Chloe would have brandished her sword at them. But coming from Shirley, it was a compliment. Shirley was, after all, the most sincere person imaginable. “Let’s get started. It’d be a waste of money to stay dry!”

She held out her hand. Chloe reached out to take it, but hesitated. Behind Shirley the pond lay still, a plane of glass unbroken by the slightest ripple. 

She’d taken too long. Shirley reached forward and covered the distance. She dragged Chloe towards the waiting water.

“Don’t be shy.” Shy? No, that wasn’t it. Chloe watched as her feet went under the surface, then the water rose to her ankles. It climbed further up her skin with each step. Once they were waist deep, Shirley stopped and turned to face her. “The first thing to remember is: no matter what happens, never panic in the water.”

Back in the days of her training, Chloe had engrained the message onto her soul. In a tight spot, stay level headed. Panic only serves to make you stupid. She took a steady breath through her nose. That mountain air would stay with her, even under the surface.

Sensing Chloe’s resolve, Shirley finally released her hand. She reached up and tugged her hair loose from the high ponytail she’d had it tied back in. Over the years, Shirley had become more daring in her sense of style. Once a girl of braids and maiden dresses, she now let Norma curl her golden locks with an iron. They’d started sewing their own ‘more fashionable’ clothes (miniskirts were now the rage on the mainland, Norma had said, with a sly glint in her eye). Today Shirley had a slight sheen of translucent pink on her lips. Chloe licked her own lips, chapped from the cold.

Shirley ran her fingers through her hair to straighten it out. Then, without any words of instruction, she dipped underneath the water. It took a few seconds for her hair to fully phospherese. The glow was dimmer now. Shirley was still the Merines, but she had confided in Chloe once before: what if I’m getting too distracted? Every day I spend on land, I worry about Nerifes drying up.

It didn’t matter to Chloe if the glow had dimmed. Shirley’s hair still glowed beautifully, a moonlit halo that wisped around her as she swam a short distance into the middle of the pond. She stayed there, hovering under the surface, staring up at Chloe. That was her cue. 

Failing to fight back the trembling, Chloe took another deep breath. Holding it close to her, she walked forward and then threw herself bodily under.

The worst part of swimming was the feeling of entrapment. Shirley had tried to explain that the water was just like the air. You could  _ feel _ the water, and yes, you couldn’t always  _ feel _ the air. But it was always surrounding your body. Anywhere you went you were always held tightly by some force of nature. There was little different in these two elements.

Yes, was Chloe’s answer. But unlike you, I can’t  _ breathe _ the water.

She automatically thrashed her arms out beside her. At the same time her legs kicked, propelling her forward, deeper, towards the silty heart of the pond. Panic gripped her, but she fought it off. It helped to screw her eyes shut, to not see the world twist and distort around her.

Her heartbeat began to pound in her ears. It was time to ascend again. She thrust up with her limbs and felt her head break the surface. She gasped at the air, as much as she could hold. Shirley was still under, watching her progress. She kicked her feet back and forth, like she’d been taught. She waved her arms around herself, chest level, like she’d been taught. She sniffled and shook droplets of water from her hair. This was going well so far. She could do this.

She was still trembling.

After a few minutes of her treading water, Shirley popped up. “Are you going to come back down?”

“I can’t.” The words came out before she’d been able to stop them. 

Shirley seemed trapped between her two natures. If her kindness won out, she would take hold of Chloe and lead her back to shore. If her stubbornness was stronger, though… “Try again. Please. For me.”

Far be it from Chloe to ignore such a request. She nodded, she gulped, she took a shaky breath. Then she went back under.

As she pushed herself around the pond, she realized: water was not like air. It was a cage of pressure. Every movement she made sent her body spiraling in some odd direction, and she couldn’t control the flow. The water felt cold. The cold permeated her skin. She blocked out every memory that came flying into her brain - death, betrayal, murder. Death, loss, grief. Death, darkness, despair.

These memories were justifications, excuses she was making for herself. How silly! As a knight she should be ashamed. Only weakness came from letting herself be caught up in the past.

But… she remembered her mother and father’s bodies. The day they buried them, the caskets had been open. The coroner had tried to stitch their bodies shut, but it was painfully obvious where they had bled out.

No. She would face this fear. The water wasn’t her enemy. Nerifes could rage at times, but she knew it was also a gentle being, that it was good. Water brought life. The fish of the rivers fed the people onboard the Legacy. The rains that fell made the flowers grow. The rain that fell made the flowers… grow…

The rain fell so loud that she couldn’t hear herself crying.

The rain fell so thick that she swears she almost drowned.

The rain fell so hard the day her parents were ripped open.

She pushed up. For some reason, she did not go up. Something was tugging at her foot, preventing her from reaching the surface. 

Everything around her became her heartbeat. It was in her ears, deafening. She cast around for the glow of Shirley’s hair. Where was she? Then she saw the faint light beneath her and had an insane thought. Shirley was trying to drown her. Why would she do this? Didn’t matter! She struck out with her other foot, the one not restrained. It hit something. Then Chloe felt her mouth open as her body instinctively sought air. 

There was no air! Water flooded her. She swallowed a mouthful and then tried to clamp her mouth shut. No good, no good. Her throat stung. She screwed her eyes shut. She would not let herself see the world above, taunting her. As she flailed and fought, something grabbed around her from behind. Let me go! She elbowed and kicked.

Whatever had her was dragging her up. Or taking her further down? Water found its way into her mouth again. It forced itself into her nose. She felt it pouring into her.

And then she felt the air. 

She opened her eyes and saw the treetops from below, shaky from her own shaking vision. Above them was the open sky, an endless expanse of breath. 

Shirley came into view. She leaned over Chloe’s chest and pushed hard - ouch! - three times. Then she moved up to push her lips against Chloe’s mouth. For such a treacherous siren, she sure had soft lips. They tasted like peaches and cream. Norma must have picked her out a flavored lipgloss.

It was a strange kiss, though. Shirley moved back to pushing on her chest. Chloe spluttered up some more pond water. “S-Stop it!” Her voice was raspy and weak.

Shirley straightened up and stared down at her, dew-eyed. Her hair was darker from the wet. It no longer glowed. Chloe realized she was staring up at her friend, lying flat on her back. The moss smelled rich of summer soil. Dazed, she tried to sit up. Shirley wrapped her arms around her shoulders, helping to steady her. With gentle touches she wiped stray strands of hair from Chloe’s forehead. “I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice thick with tears. “You were doing so great, I didn’t want to stop you. I shouldn’t have let you go so close to the bottom.”

“What got me?” Chloe remembered the sight of glowing beneath her. The thought she’d had, that Shirley would harm her… how dare she think that? Completely pathetic. She sniffed and rubbed a hand hard against her eyes. 

“There’s some clinging weeds growing in the silt. I didn’t think they’d tangle you up like that. Chloe, I’m… I’m so, so sorry. I should have paid better attention.” A tear escaped her eyes. “I’ll never ask you to go swimming again, I promise.”

It was impossible to answer. Chloe lowered her head and stared hard at the water dripping down her legs. They sat together, drying in the cold air, Shirley still clinging around Chloe’s shoulders. A few minutes passed until Chloe’s heartbeat stabilized. She dared to look up at her friend’s tear-splotched face. “But you didn’t ask me, remember? I’m the one who asked you to give me lessons. It’s my duty to train any weakness out. To refine myself into someone dependable, strong, and brave. Today I failed,” she said, her voice growing husky. “Next time I’ll do better.”

  
“Oh, Chloe! You are brave. Even if you almost drown you just… you just keep trying.” Shirley buried her head against Chloe’s neck, making her jolt. From here she could see that Shirley's hair did still glow, if just ever so faintly. She’d have to remember to tell Shirley this later, when they got back to town.  _ You’re not anything less today than you were before. You’re still a wonder and you always will be _ . 

**Author's Note:**

> technically, their first kiss is CPR.  
> but it counts, ok?


End file.
